[Sonar] Team Racing article from Echo

[Mark Kochendorfer]

Below is an article I found in one of the Spring 2005 ECHO

TEAM RACING IN A SONAR

PRACTICE MAY HELP

By Eric Johnson

With the growth of Team  Racing in the United States, the Sonar is
rapidly becoming the lead keelboat used for a number of the top end
events. While the boat is very simple and highly maneuverable, there
are some things you can do and techniques you can learn to make your
Team Racing easier in the Sonar.


BOAT PREPARATION

Tying your tiller down to the rudder head can prevent the tiller from
skying up when you are trying to make fast maneuvers. A light line
that is wrapped around twice and tied with a square knot is the
simplest way. Karl Ziegler, past Sonar NA champ, current US Match
Racing Champ and member of the highly successful BA Cup Team, came up
with a simple Velcro strap that wraps around rapidly and holds
securely. With all the maneuvering that goes on in Team Racing,
mainsheet management becomes a crucial issue. Before every race take
the mainsheet and pull the boom down hard, then play the sheet out to
get all the twists out of it so it can run free without balling up.
Some boats have the mainsheet led aft to the helm and some have them
led forward; you and your crew need to practice in both
configurations. Steve Shepstone did a study years ago that found that,
in Match Racing, the skippers who trim their own mainsheet are
consistently faster off the start than when it was run from the
middle. This requires excellent hand/tiller coordination; match or
team racing in a Laser is great practice for getting the technique
down. If the event is Jib and Main, you want to use the longest
jibsheet you can find. I have found that using a spinnaker sheet that
is led continuously gives you the ability to hold out the jib well
downwind and not have too much line lying in the cockpit. From sailing
the Sonar regularly, most of us get into the habit of storing the
spinnaker in the lazerette. This makes for a neater boat, but it takes
too long to retrieve the spinnaker when you are sailing into the
leeward mark. Put the spinnaker in the cabin and practice launching
and retrieving from there.

TECHNIQUES

JIB AND MAIN RACING:

The problem with Jib and Main in the Sonar is that the Jib is small
and the Main unbalances the boat. So you need to heal the boat to
weather to reduce the amount of rudder needed to keep the boat sailing
straight. Practice dropping the tiller and sailing the boat with crew
weight to see the angle you need to hold. Winging out the jib requires
a long line and a forward crew with long arms. Have them sit out on
the side holding the upper stay with one arm and leaning out to get
the best projection of the sail. Have the middle crew stand, holding
the boom out and ready to grab the jib sheet in case you want to jibe
or luff up. When you luff up from a wing-on run, you need to turn at
least 20 to 25 degrees to get any air into the jib. When running
wing-on, you can be by the lee just a little before the main blankets
out the jib. The longer your forward’s arms are, the higher you can
carry the wing-on until it collapses. The helmsman should move far
enough forward so that the transom is clear of the water. Sail
alongside a teammate during practice to see what the right positioning
is. The Sonar’s small jib necessitates a high angle to get the boat
going once you have stopped for a mark trap. Plan your trap with an
exit that allows you to beam reach to get back to speed quickly. If
you have someone ahead of you setting a mark trap, slow down early and
let them get almost stopped, then accelerate so that you reach them at
top speed while they are trying to accelerate, you will have
maneuverability while they are stuck in the water allowing you to
“trip the trap” and get past.


DANGEROUS CURVES:

The rudder on the Sonar is your best friend and your worst enemy. If
you are approaching a mark trap or starting line and have to stop,
slamming the helm up and down kills speed rapidly. Maneuvering with
that big rudder really makes roll tacking and jibing critical. This
really becomes obvious in the “Bat-turn”. You are in a tight cover
being driven off and you really want to tack back towards help. The
“Bat-Turn” combines the fast turning capability of the Sonar with the
high drag on that big rudder to get you around. You need to start out
with about 10-12 feet between the boats and to be just a little behind
the other boat. Bear off sharply to kill speed, have everyone move to
the leeward side and dump the mainsheet. Slam the rudder hard over and
keep the jib sheeted in to backwind and accelerate the turn. As you
pass close hauled on the new tack, move the crew to the middle to
straighten the boat up so the rigs don’t hit, and release the
jibsheet. Bring the main in to get way on again, followed by the
jibsheet. Acceleration now is the key. The target is to pass behind
the other boat so close that you can read the hull number molded into
the back of the boat. If the opposing boat tacks with you and you can
get overlapped before they can complete their tack, luff them hard to
stop them completing their tack and then use the time you just gained
to bear off and accelerate away. If you are trying to get separation
so you can tack and the other boat keeps bearing down with you, don’t
go to jibe away until you are at a beam reach. Then have the crew hike
to windward as you dump the mainsheet and turn the boat down. Everyone
keeps hiking hard to roll the boat around the jibe and then once the
jibe is complete and you are on a beam reach with the sails now
filling, move to windward to flatten the boat as the sails are trimmed
in for beating again. Your competition will be tacking from a beam
reach and you should have good separation and speed on them. They,
unfortunately, will be higher and able to reach down to you, but you
have to resist the urge to go high early to hold them off. Get all the
speed you can and then go high so you can stave off them rolling you
again.

SAIL TRIMMING:

Ventilation: The jib tracks on the Sonar are great for beating to
windward in breeze and awful for reaching. You want to have a strong
forward crew who can hold the sheet outside the stays and pull the
leech down for your best speed when reaching around. You need to
practice shifting from sailing off the tracks to holding outside and
then back to get the moves down. Jump-Gybe-Inside Move: The BA Cup
team came up with a killer move for getting inside at a leeward mark
when running with spinnakers. As you are approaching the mark with
boat(s) that you want to get inside of, you need to have right
separation and position to set this up. The easiest way to get this is
to slow up a little and let them move forward. The forward crew jumps
up on the deck and unhooks the spinnaker pole from the mast only and
then stomps his foot down on the leeward spinnaker sheet. A hard, fast
gybe swings you across the stern of the other boat and the forward’s
foot holds down the spinnaker tack. The pole falls into the spinnaker
safely away from the action. You cut across the transom(s) of the
inside boat(s), then turn down into the inside lane and can gybe back.
The forward picks up the pole as it swings back into the boat and puts
it back on the mast. (No flinching here.) Your blanketing should have
slowed up the boat(s) a little and let you move into the inside
position for the mark rounding. Dumping a Penalty with the Spinnaker
Up: The conventional way is the Match Racing Approach. In Match Racing
the head of the spinnaker has to be below the gooseneck from when you
cross head-towind until you are on a close-hauled course. (Call it 45
degrees of turn.) Have your forward go up on the foredeck and gybe the
spinnaker pole first. Then have them pull down the spinnaker on the
windward side as you  luff up. The forward holds the spinnaker on the
deck as you make your tack and as you come out of the tack the
spinnaker pole is now on the right side for a fast launch. The middle
pulls up the spinnaker once the boat reaches close-hauled. As you
continue to bear away the spinnaker gets filled and pulled back. Gybe
the spinnaker pole back and then flip the main and you have completed
your penalty turn. All these moves require practice. Start out slow
and work your speed up. Set up one or two word phrases that tell the
crew what action you have in mind. Then go out and have fun. Remember
“Friends Don’t Let Friends Finish Last.”

--
Mark